Author ArchivesJulie Garden-Robinson

When I want to relax a bit, I meander outside to tend my backyard plants, which include a variety of flowers, vegetables and herbs. I don’t even mind weeding (too much) because my vegetable and herb gardens are in elevated four-foot-wide by eight-foot-long garden boxes. My garden beds are about three feet off the ground, […] Read more

Wait. Stop the van,” I said to my husband. He knew what I saw and pulled to the side of the street. “We can fix them!” I said with enthusiasm. He sighed rather heavily. Yes, he’s usually the fixer and I am the painter. Actually, sometimes I just decide where to put things. I had […] Read more

I remember the “you-pick” strawberry patches we would visit in the early summer when I was a kid. You could see the plump, red berries peeking out from under the green foliage. I thought walking down the rows in a large field of strawberries was fun. I also remember a lady in a broad-brimmed floppy […] Read more

“I can’t understand what you are saying,” the female voice said. I was listening to music as I drove in unfamiliar territory. I thought a radio announcer was commenting to a guest. “I can’t understand what you are saying,” the voice said again. “I’m not saying anything,” I replied automatically, slightly startled. Was my phone […] Read more

Several years ago, I had a couple of program assistants who loved to enter radio contests. One day they walked into my office to discuss the day’s activities. I was a little surprised when I looked up, but I think I maintained a poker face. “How are you doing today?” I asked. “Well, we won […] Read more

As I looked around my office, the inspiration for this weekly column was right in front of me. Spring cleaning needs to be on my to-do list. Fortunately, my office isn’t dusty, and the carpet was vacuumed recently. However, piles of paper accumulated on my desk and table during the winter, just like the deep […] Read more

We have someone with a severe peanut allergy on board, so peanut-containing snacks will not be served,” the flight attendant announced. “Please refrain from eating any of your own snack foods with peanuts as an ingredient for the duration of the trip,” he continued. I had packs of peanut butter crackers and peanuts in my […] Read more

Where were you in 1979? I know some of my readers were adults at the time. Others were teens or children. Still others weren’t born yet. I was recently at the 40th anniversary meeting of a nutrition group that featured a keynote speaker who walked us through decades of changes in nutrition recommendations. Trust me: […] Read more

“This would be a good followup article,” my husband said with a grin. I pondered his suggestion as I grabbed a grocery cart. A while back, I wrote about a grocery shopping trip I took with our son. I was providing a “kitchen warming” gift for him after he moved into his own place. I […] Read more

The woman looked in my cart, glanced up at me and smiled. “I know how you feel,” she said. I didn’t look sad or dejected, by the way. I laughed and kept adding more items to my cart. What was I loading in my cart? I’ll give you a hint: I was in a hardware […] Read more